Sliding bulkhead door



F. M. LAMBERT SLIDING BULKHEAD DOOR March 4, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 11, 1946 March 4, 1952 F. M. LAMBERT SLIDING BULKHEAD DOOR Filed Dec. 11, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F.M.LAMBERT SLIDING BULKHEAD DOOR March 4, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 11, 1946 uneven oonono on a SLIDING BULKHEAD DOOR Filed Dec. 11, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 a .7217 I 7 66 .273 o /77 Q 68 67 Zzz 20 1a.; 0 7 z1a- Q 76? :09. O

IWi/VC/S MAWe PZ 26 MRQW Patented Mar. 4, 1952 SLIDING BULKHEAD DOOR Francis M. Lambert, Narberth,. Pa., assignor to Heintz Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 11, 1946, Serial No. 715,397

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to ship doors andmore particularly to watertight bulkhead doors which open and close automatically with a vertical sliding movement.

In accordance with modern practice, ships constructed both for peaceful intercourse and for war are divided by bulkheads into compartments, the bulkheads having doors by which the compartments are connected. In this manner, if one section of a ship is damaged from any cause, the

compartments in which the damage has occurred,

It sometimes happens that in the confusion following a fire, collision, or battle damage, the doors to the compartments are not closed, or if closed, not in a watertight manner. It has therefore been long desirable to design bulkhead doors which can be opened and closed automatically either from the bridge or other control stations on the ship, or also through instrumentalities located adjacent the doors themselves. It is a principal object of the invention to provide doors which will so function, and a control system which will actuate all such doors throughout the ship when so desired.

It is a further object to provide a ship bulkhead door which is raised and lowered vertically between closed and open position through the medium of a source of fluid pressure, such as compressed air.

The invention has for a further object the provision of such a door, the actuating mechanism of which includes an improved system of linkage and rollers, whereby the operation is facilitated, the structure being such that upon final closing, the door effects a watertight closure.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a door which will automatically close in the event of fire in either of the compartments it joins, or which can also be closed from a central station located for example on the bridge of the ship.

Still further, the invention provides for means to permit a trapped occupant to open the door temporarily for escape purposes after the same has been closed from the central station. Such escape opening and closing may be effected automatically by means adjacent the door, or, in the event of failure of the automatic means, by

manually operated means similarly located. It

isan important object of the invention to provide for such an arrangement.

Finally, it is an object of the invention to provide such a door which is of simple construction, capable of easy manufacture, and eflicient in operation.

These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following description and claims, when read with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of a ships bulkhead door made in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig 1.

Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section taken on theline 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective of the control lever and associated mechanism, and

Fig. 7' is a schematic diagram of the door and its control system.

The invention will be described as applied to a door for a ships bulkhead, the bulkhead being providedwith a door opening having a surrounding flange directed away from the door. The door is mounted for up and down vertical sliding movement between a position above the door opening to a position closing the opening. The door is provided with a channel member adjacent its periphery, the channel being filled with a sealing strip of rubber or the like. When the door is in its lowermost position it is automatically forced forwardly in the direction of the opening so that the sealing strip engages the flange surrounding the opening thus effecting a watertight closure.

Means are provided for raising the door automatically by compressed air or the like, such means being selectively controllable from. the bridge of the ship or adjacent the door itself.

Emergency, manual means are also provided toraise the door, should the automatic means fail to function for any reason.

With particular reference to the drawings the reference number 25) indicates a bulkhead. doorframe adapted to be secured to an opening in a ships bulkhead as by welding or the like. The bulkhead door frame is constructed of sheet steel or the like and may be conveniently reinforced by a plurality of metal strips such as 21.

The bulkheads door frame Zll is provided with a door opening 2'2 (see Figs. l and 5), the edge of the opening. being framed by a flange 23 integral with the bulkhead door frame 2i? and directed outwardly from the plane of the door.

Rigidly secured to the bulkhead door frame by means of the supporting members 24 (see Fig. 2) are spaced vertical guide tracks 25 and 26. These are spaced from the bulkhead door frame 29 and are disposed adjacent each side of the door opening 22. These guide tracks 25 and 26 may be of sheet steel or the like and are rectangular in section with a longitudinal opening or slot 21 on the sides facing the door side member 36 (Figs. 2, 4 and 5).

The door, indicated by the reference number 28 is comprised of a sheet metal outer face 26 backed and reinforced by a frame structure comprised of a top member 30, a bottom member 3|, intermediate horizontal members 32, 33, 34, and 35, and pairs of vertical side members, 36, 31, and 38, 39. The members comprising the frame structure are joined to each other as by welding or the like, or in some instances may be integrally formed. The sheet metal outer face 29 of the door 28 is secured to the frame structure preferably by welding.

With reference to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be noted that the outer vertical side members 36 and 38 also extend beyond the plane of door 28 and toward the bulkhead door frame 20. The sheet metal outer face 29 of the door 28 is provided adjacent its periphery with an angle molding 46 which has a portion welded to the door face 29, then extends forwardly of the door face and terminates in a laterally directed flange 4|.

A sealing strip '42 of rubber or the like is disposed in the channel formed by the angle molding 48 and that portion of the vertical side members 36, 38 which extends forwardly of the door face 29, the flange 4| on the anglemolding 40 aiding to hold the sealing strip 42 in place.

When the door 28 is in closed position (Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5), the sealing strip 42 engages the flange 23 surrounding the door frame opening, thus effecting a watertight closure.

The door 28 carries a plurality of rollers 43, 44, 45, 46, and 41, on each side, which rollers are disposed in the vertical guide tracks 25 and 26. Rollers 43, 44, 45 and 46 (on each side) (see Fig. 2) are mounted on spindles 48, 49, 50 and 5| which are carried by small rocker arms 52, 53, 54 and 55 respectively. At one of their ends the rocker arms 52, 53, 54 and 55 are secured to members 56, 51, 58 and 59 respectively. These members are supported in journals 60, 6|, 62 and 63 respectively, which are rigidly secured to the vertical side members 36, 31 and 38, 39, of the frame structure.

The other ends of the rocker arms 52, 53, 54, and 55, on each side of the door are pivotally connected together by a long vertical link 64. It is to be understood that there are two of such links 64 and 65, one for each set of rocker arms of the cross rod 12 are connected to the chains 13 and 14 for a purpose to be described.

Intermediate their ends the pairs of spaced lever arms 10, 18 and 1|, 1| are connected by a cross rod 15. A series of coil springs 16 are connected at one end to this cross rod 15 and at the other end to the intermediate horizontal member 33 integrally mounted on the door structure. The springs 16 exert a downward pull on the cross rod 15 thus urging the lever arms 10, 16', 1|, 1| downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2.

Each link 64, 65 has an offset link 11, 18, pivotally connected thereto as at 19, 19. Links 11 and 18 are offset from links 64 and 65, respectively. The other ends of these offset links 11, 18 are disposed respectively between the spaced lever arms comprising each pair, and are provided with holes through which pass a spindle 86 (see Fig. 3) which is carried by the lever arms 18, 1|), 1|, 1|. Each link 11 and 18 is thus pivotally connected to a pair of the lever arms. When the lever arms 16, 16', 1|, 1|

H are in their lower positions (Figs. 2 and 3), the

1 points of pivotal connection (see Fig. 3) are positioned substantially below the journals 66 and 61.

From Fig. 3 it will be observed that the guide tracks 25 and 26 are somewhat larger than the rollers 41. These rollers 41 are also adapted to ride in the guide tracks 25 and 26. These rollers serve a special purpose which will be later described.

Each pair of the vertical side members 36, 31 and 38, 39 has a journal 66, 61 secured thereto. Each of these journals 66 and 61 supports an axle 68, 69, on which are mounted pairs of spaced lever arms 10, 10 and 1|, 1| (see Figs. 1 and 2). 'A cross rod 12 passes through openings in necessary to accommodate the rollers 43, 44, 45 and 46. However, the lower rollers, such as 41, are of a diameter which substantially occupies all of the space in the guide tracks, except at the .base of the guide tracks Where the latter are materially enlarged in the direction of the bulkhead door frame. Here each guide track is provided with a ledge 8| which joins with a forward wall 82.

From this description. and an examination of the drawings, it should now be apparent that as the door is lowered from its raised upper position, it will be guided in its descent by the rollers which ride in the guide tracks. The door in its descent is maintained in a plane which is slightly rearwards of the plane of the door opening, particularly by virtue of the lowermost rollers 41. It is only when these lowermost rollers reach the ledges 8| and these rollers enter the enlarged bottom portions of the guide tracks 25, 26 that the door may be moved forwardly against the opening so that the sealing strip 42 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) may engage the flange 23 surrounding the door openings. Just how this movement is accomplished will now be described.

It has previously been mentioned that the ends of the cross bar 12 are connected to chains 13 and 14. These chains pass upwardly over pulleys 83 and 84 respectively. The pulleys are mounted on the upper ends of pistons 85 and 88 which are mounted in the cylinders 81 and 88 respectively. The cylinders are conveniently secured to the outer surfaces of the guide tracks 25, 26 by any suitable means such as by welding. The other end of the chain 13 may be anchored to the guide track 26 adjacent the upper end of the cylinder 81. The other end of the chain 14 is anchored within the housing 89 of a braking device (Figs. 1 and 2). I

When the door is to be raised the cylinders 81 and 88 are adapted to be supplied through a valve structure 90, with air under pressure from a suitable source. As a consequence, the pistons 85 and 86 rise in the cylinders 81 and 88, and the chains 13 and 14 are pulled upwardly exerting an I 'upward force on the cross rod 12 and pivoting accuse:

flanges 23 surrounding the door opening. In such.

position the lowermost rollers 41 may ride over the ledges 8| (Fig. 3.) and enter the. main narrower portions of the guide tracks.

Continued upward movement. of the chains 13, and 14 (caused by continued upward movement of the pistons 85 and 85) will cause the door to.

be moved vertically upwards, the rollers in the guide tracks facilitating such upward movement.

To lower the door, the air pressure is permitted,

to escape from the cylinders. 81 and 88. gradually. The door descends by gravity, again guided by the rollers running in the guide tracks. The lowermost rollers 41 (on each side) ride on the. forward surface of the guide tracks, 25, 25 thus maintaining the door in a vertical plane slightly rearwards of the plane of the door opening. Until the door reaches its lowermost position these rollers 4'! also prevent the springs 16 from pivoting the lever arms l0, l9 and 1|, 1| to the position shown in Fig. 2. This is so because the links 64 and 65 are in raised position, the rocker arms 52, 53, 54 and 55 are pivoted upwardly, and the lowermost rollers 41 (by reason of their engagement with the forward surface. of the guide tracks) have forced the rollers 43, 44, 45, and 45 against the rear surface of the guide tracks in such a position as to prevent a downward pivoting of the rocker arms.

When, however, the door reaches its lowermost position, the lowermost rollers 41 ride over the ledges 8| (Fig. 3) and enter the enlarged bottom portions of the guide tracks. The. rocker arms 52-, 53, 54, and 55 are now free to pivot downwardly and such downward pivoting movementis effected by the springs 16 which move the lever arms 10, 1|, ll. downwardly thus; moving the.

links 54 and 65 downwardly. Such downward pivoting movement of the rocker arms 52, 53,54 and 55 causes the rollers 43, 44, 45 and 46 (on each side) to bear against the rearward surfaces.

of the guide tracks, which, forces the door to move.

forwardly into the plane of the opening. It. will be. noted that the springs. thus exert their full.

force at the moment required. to close the door slightly. In, such position, as previously mentioned, the sealing strip. 42 (Figs. 3, 4. and 5). engages the flange 23 surrounding the door opening. whereby a water-tight closure is. effected.

In the. event of failure of the air supply or the apparatus for controlling the same, the door may be raised manually by turningv the hand wheel. 9| (Figs. 1, 2 and 4). This wheel 9| when. rotated, turns a drum 92 (Fig. 7) disposed within the. housing 89 (Fig. 2) on which the drum the end of the chain 14 is wound. It will be apparent that turning the drum 92 will pull the. chain 14 and thus raise the door. The shaft 93 which the wheel 9| turns, and the drum 92, are connected through. gearing (not. shown) so as to. facilitate. the, manual raising of the door. Thehousing 89 is filled with a quantity of heavy oil which effects a braking action to. retard the descent .of the door after the. handle. 9| has been. released. Thus.

the door after releasing the handle 9|.

when it is necessary to openthe door manually for escape purposes, the braking action of the heavy oil will retard the closing of the door sulficientl y' to perm-itth-eoperator to escape through From Fig. 4 it. will be noted that a second manually operated wheel handle 94 iswprovided' to permit the door to be actuated from the front side as well.

The valve for controlling the admission of air to the cylinders 81 and 88 for effecting automatic operation ofthe door, is shown in detail perspective in Fig. 6. A control system is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 7. Referring to the latter figure first, the reference numeral 95 indicates an air compressorwhich is connected by. a conduit 96 to. a control valve 9'! located advantageously in the bridge of the ship. This main controlvalve 9'! in the bridge of the ship connects through theconduit 98 and conduit 99 with the :valve 90 adjacent the door 28. A. siphon jet T [00 is disposed in this line; A conduit iiH connects the siphon jet T with a pair of fusible plugs H12 and I03, one of which is located on each sideof the bulkhead 20 in which the door is located. Another conduit |05 extends from the valve 90 back to the air compressor 95 through a check valve I08. This valve 90. may be supplied with air from the air reservoir l0! through the connecting conduit I05 (which comprises the emergency line). I08, I09, 0, III, H2, H3 each represent a control valve leading to bulkhead doors located in various parts of the ship.

In Fig. 6, the valve 90 adjacent the door 28 is shown as controlled by an operating handle H4 secured on the shaft I I5 which actuates the valve. Mounted above the valve 9|] in the conduit leading to the cylinders 87 and 88, is a check valve N6, the purpose of which is to retard the escape of air from the cylinders to prevent the door from closing too rapidly and causing damage upon striking. the bottom. Mounted on the shaft H5 is a lug I! having a portion H8 adapted to engage a stop member I I9. The stop member I I9 is mounted in a cylinder 20 which houses also a heavy spring (not shown) which urges the stop member ||9 upwardly to the position shown in Fig, 6.

The system shown in Figs. 6 and '7 operates. as.

follows:

The air compressor 95 is adapted normally to maintain air pressure in conduit 95, conduit 98, conduit 99 so that. air under. pressure is constantly supplied to the valve 96 for the door 28, as well as;

' the door shown (Fig. 6) the turning of the .handle 4 to the position where the lug ||8 strikes the stop member I I!) will release: the. air pressure causing the door to descend.

The door shown can also be made to descend by turning the control valve 91 in the bridgeto permit the air in the line to escape through the exhaust conduit |2| (Fig. 7). In fact, turning the control valve. 91 in the bridge will cause all raised bulkhead, doorsv in. the ship to. be lowered- Thus. in case ofdamase or disaster. the officers 7 on the bridge, by actuation of one control valve, are able to close all bulkhead doors throughout the ship.

Moreover, if a fire breaks out in any compartment, such as those separated by the bulkhead 20 with its door 28 (Fig. 7), the fusible plug I02 or I03 in that compartment will open up thus permitting the air in the conduit 99 to escape and consequently effectin a closing of the door.

Assuming that the door 28 (Fig. 7) has been lowered either as the result of the opening of a fusible plug I02 or I03, or through operation of the control valve 91 on the bridge of the ship, it is still possible for an occupant of a compartment to raise the door in order to escape. This may be effected (Fig. 6) by turning the handle H4 so that the lug H8 depresses the stop member H9 (against the action of the spring which bears against the stop member). This further movement of the handle I I4 actuates the valve 90 so as to connect the conduit I22 leading to the cylinders 81 and 88 (Fig. '7), with the emergency conduit I05, so that air under pressure is supplied from the air reservoir IBI. However, as soon as the handle I I4 is released, the spring pressed stop member H9 will move upwardly actuating the valve 90 to connect the cylinder I22 with the conduit exhaust port and consequently allow the door to close.

A trapped occupant of a compartment may also escape by manually turning either of the hand wheels Si or 94 (Fig. 4) to raise the door in a manner heretofore described.

It should now be manifest that the invention possesses a number of advantageous features. In addition to those which have been enumerated, special attention is directed to the manner in which the lowermost rollers 41 maintain the door in a vertical plane rearwardly adjacent the plane of the opening at all times except when the door is in fully lowered position. As has been described, the lowermost portions of the guide tracks are enlarged so that when the door reaches its lowermost position, these lowermost rollers 4! may enter the enlarged track portions. This permits the springs I6 (Figs. 1 and 2) to exert their full force to actuate the links 64 and 65, thus pivoting the rocker arms 52, 53, 54 and 55 and causing the rollers 43, 44, 45 and 46 to bear against the rear surface of the guide tracks. This forcefully moves the'door into fully closed position with the sealing strip 42 engaging the flange 23 (Figs. 3, 4, and thus effecting a watertight closure.

Moreover, it will be noted that the greatest pressure required for raising the door, is at the beginning of the movement, namely the pressure required for pulling up the cross bar 12 (Fig. 2) against the action of the springs I6, actuating the linkage, Once the door begins its upward movement, the lowermost rollers 41 bear against the forward surface of the guide tracks. Because of this the air pressure for raising the door does not need to act against the force of the springs I6.

It is to be understood that the structure is shown and described by way of example only. Changes in the structure and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the invention which is only limited in scope by the language of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A water tight closure comprising a verti-- cally movable door, a fixed framework having an opening adapted to be closed by the door, vertical guide means for the door mounted on said framework, a'pair of cylinders mounted on said chains each extending over a pulley, one end of each chain being secured to said framework, a leverage mechanism mounted on said door and having members engageable with said vertical guide means, spring means for actuating said leverage mechanism to urge the door forwardly into water tight closed position when the door is in position adjacent said opening, the other end of each chain being connected to said leverage mechanism, a source of fluid under pressure, conduit means connectingsaid source with said cylinders, and a manually controlled valve disposed in said conduit means and mounted on said framework.

2. A door structure for the bulkheads of ships, comprising a door frame having an opening and an inwardly directed flange extending transversely of said door frame and surrounding the opening, a pair of parallel guide tracks secured to the frame and disposed respectively on opposite sides of the opening, said guide tracks being flared in the direction of the bulkhead at one end, a door provided adjacent its edge with a sealing strip, a plurality of rocker arms pivoted at one of their ends to the door, a plurality of rollers carried by said rocker arms and disposed in said guide tracks and of lesser dimensions than said guide tracks, a linkage mechanism supported by the door and connected to the other ends of said rocker arms, said door having .rollers mounted thereon at each side near one when the door has reached its closed position,

whereby the door is then forced forwardly into watertight engagement with the flange surrounding said opening.

3. A water tight closure comprising, a vertically movable door, a fixed frame-work having an opening adapted to be closed by said door,

vertical guide tracks for said door mounted on said framework laterally of the opening, a plurality of rocker arms pivotally mounted at one of their ends on the side edges of said door, a roller mounted on each of said rocker arms for rotation with the axes of said rollers intermediate the ends of said rocker arms, links, one on each side, pivotally connecting the other ends of said rocker arms, lever arms, one on each side, pivotally mounted at their inner ends to said door, a cross rod, extending transversely of the door and connecting the outer ends of said lever arms, a cross rod extending transversely of the door and connecting the lever arms intermediate their ends, members connecting each link to the inner ends of said lever arms, springs connected to the door below said lever arms and secured at their other ends to said last named cross bar, chain means connected to said first named cross bar, means for drawing said chain means upwardly to raise said door, said springs urging said links downwardly, and means mounted on said door- 7 and engaging in said guide tracks for blocking 9 downward movement of said links and the con- Number nected rocker arms except when the door is in 647,930 a position adjacent said opening. 678,407 FRANCIS M. LAMBERT. 797,986 5 1,846,293 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: g UNITED STATES PATENTS M 125086 Number Name Date 171,454 622,956 Von Knorring Apr. 11, 1899 404,899

Name Date Arschaouloff Apr. 24, 1900 Lee July 16, 1901 Taylor Aug. 22, 1905 Wiese Feb. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 24, 1876 Great Britain Apr. 17, 1919 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1921 Great Britain Jan. 25, 1934 

